Welcome to our third quarterly newsletter! This is not only for staff but for residents, their families and friends as well. We aim to cover aspects of the daily life in our homes, special events, profiles on staff and residents as well as features on the care industry and anything we feel may be of interest to you.
Please let us know what you think. All suggestions and contributions are welcome!
STAFF ACHIEVER AWARD
This has been running for well over two years now and was set up to recognise the hard work and dedication of our staff, believing that it should be acknowledged and rewarded.
Whether it is awarded for working above and beyond their duty or for caring excellence or for contributions to the business, each award has been voted for by staff, residents and their families and so is especially appreciated by all recipients.
In the past quarter the winners have been:
January – Gail Taylor (Hill House)
February – Connor Morris-Clarke
(Woodlands)
March – Janet Anderson (Hill House)
April – Rebecca Collyer (Woodlands)
Janet receiving her award from Alison
STAFF NEWS
Over the last few months we have had several new starters:
Sonia Budha, Vanessa Higgins, Sadie Jarrett, Julie Knightley, Belinda Letts, Sapana Limbu, Diana Manning, Izabella Niznik, Thai Pun, Pashupati Rai, Rhodora Carpenter, Abisha Gurung, Silpa Gurung, Manju Lama
A very big welcome to all of you!
Sadly for us, but lovely for her, Sylvia Hook, our cleaner from Hill Brow retired on 12th April. We would like to wish her a long and happy retirement.
From mid-April, Jo Grinyer, our General Manager, has taken over the management of all three homes. Maria Gilfoyle will continue to be the Manager of Hill House with Sahlee Villalobos as the Deputy Manager.
A RESIDENT’S VIEW
One of our lovely ladies in our Hill Brow residential home has been chatting recently about her life since she moved here some 9 years ago.
Prior to moving in to Hill Brow Hazel worked for many years in the Heath End post office in Farnham. She recalls that when she looked around the home here she immediately thought it was a wonderful place which would meet her day to day needs beautifully.
Since living here she has, of course, seen many changes occur. Not least the building of the brand new home, Hill House, just next door! This must have been a very interesting time, watching it gradually take shape and become the lovely home it is now.
Hazel thoroughly enjoyed the opening ceremony which took place in September 2012 with Princess Alexandra attending and to whom Hazel was introduced – a great honour!
Hazel mentioned that since Helen Wolff took over as the manager Hill Brow has been very well organised with the residents enjoying a variety of activities to suit everyone’s needs. She specifically mentioned that the food is very good and all the staff are very caring and make her feel at home.
She said, ‘there are always celebrations going on, including three residents having a lovely party for their 100th birthdays’!
One of the aspects that both Hazel and our other residents enjoy is the fact that there are two very friendly cats, Cindy and Cheeky, whom everyone enjoys stroking and petting.
Hazel said she is very, very happy here with us and looks forward to many more years to come, being part of the family!
Hazel meeting Princess Alexandra
OUTINGS AND ACTIVITIES
Residents enjoyed a visit from Alison’s very friendly horses.
The cooking club, which takes place every other week at Woodlands, is very popular. Especially when it comes to the tasting time!
A selection of the lovely Easter Bonnets made by our residents – in between enjoying their chocolate eggs!
Miss Low celebrating her 100th birthday with her very special congratulatory card from the Queen.
Residents celebrated World Earth Day by planting a beautiful flowering cherry tree.
DIET CLUB
A year ago now, staff joined together to form a club to support each other in losing weight.
This has proved to be very popular – summer is coming and now is the perfect time to shed those pounds and show off your new svelte figure on the beach!
The club is still going strong and we now have an exercise class running in parallel.
The Diet Club is all day on Fridays, staff can come to the office in Hill House at any time on that day to be weighed. The cost is only £2 a week and the person who has lost the most weight wins that week’s cash – so it’s well worth joining!
The Fitness Class takes place on a Wednesday from 17h00-18h00 in the Day Centre at Hill House and costs just £2 a session which goes to charity. Much cheaper than a gym!
Please come along and join the fun, new members are always welcome both for the diet club and the fitness class. You don’t have to be dieting though to join in the exercise fun!
ALL STAFF AND RELATIVES
Dates for your diary:
On Friday 17 May there is an evening of music and entertainment taking place at Hill House from 19h00 with a fish and chip supper included!
On Friday 24 May we will be holding a Bridge afternoon, from 14h00 – 17h00, in the Dining Room at Hill House.
On Sunday 4 August a Tea Dance will be taking place from 15h00 – 17h00, in the Day Centre.
All tickets are £10 but numbers are limited so get yours soon! They can be bought from Janet, Charity Ambassador, on Reception in Hill House.
On Thursday 13 June, all three homes will join together for our annual Talent Show!
The teams involved are currently having ‘secret squirrel’ conversations and practice sessions all hoping to beat last year’s worthy winners headed by Lorraine Eaves, our Housekeeping Manager.
The 2012 Winners – the Kitchen and Housekeeping Team!
On Friday 21 June, Hill House and Hill Brow will be holding a joint NAPA (National Association for Providers of Activities for Older People) open day. More details will follow for this event.
Saturday 7 September sees our annual Garden Party which, this year, will take place at our Woodlands Home in Church Crookham.
Finally, under discussion are plans to hold an exciting Race Day at Castle Combe racing circuit, under the guidance of our very own racing driver, Sabrina Williams, who works at our Woodlands home.
ANOTHER REQUEST FROM OUR HOUSEKEEPING LADIES
Further to our last newsletter, we still have many items of unnamed clothing. As you can imagine, with the huge amount which passes through laundry etc it can be very difficult to match clothing with residents!
The evidence of this is the bags of unnamed and still unclaimed clothing we have. If
residents or their families have any missing items please ask our housekeeping ladies,
Jean, Sarah, Terrell and Nicky, if they have them.
Unfortunately, if the items are not claimed soon we will need to take them along to the charity shop so please check quickly!
RUMMAGE BOX
Our Residents enjoy our Rummage Box so we would love contributions to this please!
For example, Duplo, buttons, scraps of material, past times memorabilia etc would all be very welcome.
MARKET PLACE
This is a space where you can advertise anything you want to sell or have a service to offer or a skill to swap.
For example, you could offer babysitting for someone who will walk your dog or baking in exchange for clothing alterations.
You never know what you will find and we hope it will become a really popular slot.
GREETINGS CARDS
Can’t find that personal touch in a greetings card? Helen will make them to order for you. Contact her at Hill Brow or email her at
helen@woodlands-hillbrow.co.uk
BOILER SERVICING
Full boiler service, gas safety check and a free home inspection by a fully qualified Gas Safe registered engineer for £60
Call Nathan on 07786 808474
HAIR BY EMMA
Personal hair styling by Emma Howells (Teresa’s daughter). Contact her on 07816 165031 or at
Please send any comments and contributions to paula.pitter@woodlands-hillbrow.co.uk